W.A.S.P. Stings The Plaza In Orlando With The Album One Alive Tour With Support From Armored Saint

November 24, 2024 | The Plaza Live – Orlando, FL

All Photos By Randy Cook & Travis Failey

Almost two years to the day of my first W.A.S.P. concert, the same killer twin bill lineup returned to the same venue for what was a show of the same epic proportions as the first time. With 2024, marking the fortieth anniversary of the release of W.A.S.P.’s debut album, the band played the album in its entirety on their North American tour.

Supporting W.A.S.P. once again is Armored Saint with original opener Death Angel off the bill due to member availability issues and Unto Others taken off the tour for reasons that aren’t transparent.  Both W.A.S.P. and Armored Saint were formed in 1982 collectively giving us almost eighty years of rock history that we were in store for this evening.  

 W.A.S.P. was formed in 1982 and was a big part of the early 1980s Los Angeles heavy metal scene. My friends and I discovered them from the band’s wild and outlandish video on MTV in “I Wanna Be Somebody” we fell in love with the band’s sound. In my early formative metalhead years of the mid 1980s, that first W.A.S.P. CD was on constant replay.

“Lead vocalist Blackie Lawless says: “It was an angry record made by an angry band. It was a record that not only reflected the attitude of the band members who made it, but also a record that reflected its time.” This record became a central piece of the 1980s metal scene and remains one of the best metal debut albums of all time.”[1]

As Judas Priest’s “Delivering The Goods” played over the house speakers Armored Saint took the stage with Gonzo Sandoval lifting his arms up in the air to salute the fans.

Armored Saint opened the show with “End of the Attention Span” off their most recent album, Punching The Sky and their tightness was evident from the first note. They have had the same lineup since 1990 with the band taking an extended break when John Bush was with Anthrax.

They played a flawlessly executed fifty minute ten-song set spanning eight of their thirteen studio releases. After they finished “Raising Fear” the “Saint” went into “The Pillar” which they haven’ t played live since 2015 at Hellfest in France.

After “March of the Saint” the band broke it one of my favorite songs in the catchy and crushing “Left Hook From Right Field off of 2010’s La Raza which is a very underrated Saint album.  John Bush talked about the band adopting the dual guitar attack that influenced them from bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Thin Lizzy.

For me, it adds that extra layer of song complexity that pulls me in as a fan. This sound was shown in spades during “Win Hands Down” with guitarist Jeff Duncan and Phil Sandoval sharing riffs and leads on the center stage riser.

Gonzo Sandoval’s thunderous drums along with Joey Vera’s booming bass carried the back line during “Can You Deliver” as John Bush went up into the balcony to sing to and with the fans. You can feel the passion he exerts as he is delivering the lyrics and interacting with the crowd.

He delivers it every night with energy and passion, now up close and personal for those in the balcony section before making his way to the photo pit section to once again get in the faces of the bands fans.

John went back on stage to join his bandmates in an fantastic rendition of “Reign of Fire” off arguably one of the greatest metal albums released in Symbol of Salvation. The song brought their set to a rousing close and a loud cheer from the audience, which by now most of the sold out crowd was in attendance.

Elvis took the stage before W.A.S.P. and all of us photographers took a minute to get a photo of him. Elvis is the infamous skeleton microphone stand used by W.A.S.P.’s lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Blackie Lawless.

After additional security that was completely not needed was added along with an unnecessary warning from the venue staff of the “no moshing” rule, soon the house lights went out as The Door’s “The End” played through the house speakers.

As this concluded, a mix tape of W.A.S.P. songs played as the band took the stage and with the crowd back at full roar as the first notes of ‘I Wanna Be Somebody’ struck and we began our journey back to 1984 and W.A.S.P.’s debut studio album.

Each song on this legendary album is someone’s favorite song and literally the reason why they came to the show this night. That was beyond evident in the faces in the crowd that I saw as the show progressed along.

Each song has a lot happening on stage as you try to take it all in. Bassist Mike Duda wanders over to the side backdrops that are adorned with skulls hanging from chains and he hits them to send them into a spinning frenzy while lead guitarist Doug Blair is wailing on a sweet solo while trying to see the ferocity of Blackie’s facial expressions behind Elvis.

Many of these songs haven’t been played since the mid-80s including “B.A.D.” “School Daze” &  “Tormentor” and sounded fantastic live.

At the album’s conclusion with my favorite from the album in “The Torture Never Stops”  that includes one of the greatest lyrics ever written in “Hopes the rope that keeps you tied in knots” there was a short few minute intermission as the stage switched over to the circus theme of the last tour.

Chants of “Blackie! Blackie! Blackie!…”preceded a medley of ‘Inside the Electric Circus / I Don’t Need No Doctor / Scream Until You Like It”’ to kick off the second half of the show and then their staple cover of ‘The Real Me’ by The Who.

A highlight was ‘The Headless Children’ with the World War 2 imagery depicted in the background as the song was played. Very powerful and lead into ‘Wild Child’, with Blackie playing the opening riffs and verse solo under a spotlight next to Elvis and then ‘Blind in Texas’ to close out a fantastic show to a very satisfied crowd.

The band sounded fantastic and Blackie especially sounded great and was able to hit the high parts seemingly with ease with Mike Duda helping out. Many who bashed Blackie for singing to tracks which was evident on the last tour would be remiss to attack him for this on this tour as I watched intently and saw it very rarely if at all. 

I also have to give the guitarist Doug Blair and drummer Aquiles Priester big props as they were visually and sonically spectacular during the set.

The tour continues in the United States until mid-December and then continues with a couple of dates in South America and then continues in Europe starting in April of 2025. I cannot stress enough for you to see this tour if possible, so get your tickets today and go see these rock legends and get back into an old “School Daze” one more time.

Tickets are available here:

https://www.waspnation.com/tour

W.A.S.P. setlist – November 24, 2024 – The Plaza Live, Orlando, FL:

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[1]https://blabbermouth.net/news/w-a-s-p-to-perform-entire-debut-album-on-fall-2024-tour-death-angel-to-support